The Winnipeg Jets needed to pull up their bootstraps and bounce back after a tough overtime loss to the Dallas Stars when they played the Anaheim Ducks yesterday afternoon. The Jets did bounce back and while the game was harder than it had to be, they did bounce back and win. They were able to score on the powerplay and they were able to effectively kill penalties. The Jets did what they needed to do to win and that was the important part of the game. It was not pretty, but it worked.
Three Takeaways
- The power play clearly misses Dustin Byfuglien and the adjustments that the team needs to make with him effectively gone for the season need to be made. Neal Pionk works well on the first unit, but they need to figure out how to make the power play run without Byfuglien’s shot as a threat. The play that worked today: quick puck movement and crisp passing, should probably remain the go-to and the Jets should be working on mastering it more long-term.
- Connor Hellebuyck remains a very good goalie. After a shaky pre-season and first couple of games, Hellebuyck has been excellent and has returned to form after a down season last year. His play continues to lift the Jets to heights no one could have ever imagined them reaching with their current defence and that is something they desperately needed. This was a game that Laurent Brossoit could have played in based on the competition, but Paul Maurice was right to go with Hellebuyck as there was a couple days between games.
- I was listening to part of this game on the radio and the announcers were talking about how Anaheim was right in there, and yet they are six points out of the second wild card spot which is not being right in the race. It looks like they are, but it is all artificial and they are probably long out of the playoffs already.
